


Iris: Wish 1

by litra



Series: If wishes were races we would all run [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Canon Compliant, Djinni & Genies, Gen, Hospitalization, Iris is not having a good day, Missing Scene, Pre-Season/Series 01, Sort Of, Stress, Wishes, not thinking things through
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 14:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16097345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra
Summary: Barry is in the hospital. He keeps nearly dying and there's nothing Iris can do about it, at least not until she meets the genie.





	Iris: Wish 1

They had had to restart Barry's heart four times. It was a miracle he was still alive. It was so late it was early and Iris was drained in a way that she couldn't ever remember being before. Sitting by Barry's bedside she didn't know what to do.

"Hey sweetheart." Joe put a hand on her shoulder, shaking it slightly. She blinked back to herself wondering how many times he'd had to call her name.

"Sorry dad, I'm okay." She wasn't, but she could hold it together a little longer. 

"You should go home, get some rest." She started to shake her head, but Joe squeezed her shoulder. "I'll stay with him. You can come back in a few hours. You can bring back a new set of clothes for when he wakes up."

She knew he was humoring her, but sleeping in a real bed sounded like heaven. Maybe when she woke up, Barry would be awake too. She slowly nodded.

"Good, I'll get someone to take you home."

She would have refused. It was a small ongoing argument between them; using cops or cop resources for the little things, but on the other hand she recognized that Barry was a part of their team too. They were probably just as worried as she and Joe, and when there was nothing to be done doing any little thing helped. 

Iris clambered to her feet, grabbing her purse and the bag of things that had been in Barry's pockets, keys and wallet and the clothes he'd come in with. In a way, by taking them she was admitting that Barry wasn't going to get better in the next few hours, but leaving them would have been worse. She didn't want to turn Barry's hospital room into some kind of shrine as if he'd never leave it.

The officer her dad found to drive her seemed nice. He said his name was Eddie, and his smile didn't feel condescending or fake. He made sure she had his number in case she needed anything while her dad was with Barry. Iris tried to thank him but by that point she was dead on her feet.

Several hours later Iris woke to her phone ringing. She fumbled for it, trying to figure out where she was. She'd made it to the couch, and still felt groggy, but the still half-asleep groggy that meant she needed coffee. 

She answered the call with a "Hello," that was half muffled by a yawn.

"Hey, sorry to get you up but there should be an insurance card in with Barry's things." Joe said.

She nodded, "Right, just a sec." It took a minute of looking around to find it. She'd left Barry's things on the dining table and his wallet was stuffed with membership cards and old receipts. She hardly noticed the old ring that tumbled out of the bag, except to make sure it didn't fall to the floor, slipping it onto her finger so it couldn't roll around. "You ready?" She asked, then read out the number when her dad grunted.

The soft glow made her blink, and glance up only to freeze in place.

Barry was sitting across from her, except... She let out a little cry, the sound escaping her as her eyes filled with tears. The Barry sitting on the other side of the table was glowing. His hair was three or four shades too light. His eyes where white and glowing like a star. He didn't have a shadow.

"Iris, you okay?" Joe asked from the other end of the phone.

"Barry, he's--" She couldn't make herself say the word dead.

"I know baby girl. This is gonna be hard on all of us for a while but we can make it through this. Barry'll wake up. We have to keep believing." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as her, but his words..."

"He's alive?"

"Yeah, he's still out of it, but he's right here next to me. Did you have a dream or something?"

"Something..." Iris agreed.

"You gonna be okay?"

The Barry sitting across from her nodded encouragingly.

"Yeah..." Iris slowly agreed. She hung up.

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you." Barry said with a lopsided smile.

"I-- Are you--?"

Barry shook his head, "I'm not actually him. I'm just trying out this shape. I can switch to something else if you'd prefer."

"I... yes?" Iris was bewildered and wrung out and in desperate need of coffee. She really wanted to know what was going on.

Barry considered for a moment, "Right, okay, I guess I'll go with a classic." He stood, held up both hands and snapped his fingers. There was a faint shimmer and suddenly Barry wasn't Barry. In his place stood a woman with long dark hair pulled back in a pony tail and almond eyes. She was wearing a dozen silk scarves, and what looked like harem pants. She was still glowing. Sitting back down she folded her hands in front of her.

"You're... You look like..."

"A genie, yes. Because that's exactly what I am."

Iris let out a breath, "How?"

The story took a while. Iris had a lot of questions, first about the magic overload that had caused Barry's current state, and then about the rules for the wishes. The genie -- Allie -- zapping up some coffee and scones had helped a lot.

"So Barry will be alright?" Iris asked for what was probably the tenth time. 

Allie nodded, "The fact that he's not dead outright is a good sign. You have to understand, making three wishes at once like that, It kind of compounded everything, and his will wasn't small to begun with. I haven't felt that mush power since the gold rush." she considered, "I mean if you wanted to help him wake up faster you could add your will to his..."

"How?" Iris asked immediately.

"You could wish for his wishes to come true. Or you could wish for his health not to decline any farther. You can't actually wish for him to wake up. That would mess with his head and break the second rule, but adding your will to his can't hurt his chances. If you want to spend a wish that way," Allie tagged on with a shrug.  

"Why wouldn't I?" Iris asked blankly.

The genie looked her up and down, leaning back in her chair. "Well, it's not necessary, and wishes are powerful things."

"So I'm not an asshole?"

"Well I wouldn't use those words but--"

Iris rolled her eyes. Still she had a point. Three wishes... She'd thought about it before, of coarse she had, everyone did. It all seemed so petty now though, with Barry in the hospital. She was only one person, she didn't have the will to change the whole world. This wasn't a miracle, it was a wish, and wishes were aloud to be selfish.

"Genie, I wish that my brother wont die from his wishes. Add my will to his."

Allie nodded. She stood and stepped back from the table. She started to smile, then "Oh that's cleaver, yeah okay. Let's go with that." 

And she glowed.

Iris gasped as she felt a tug behind her heart. The world swam and she was distantly glad that she'd been sitting down. the world faded away.

Her hand slipped off the table. The ring, still loose on her finger, dropped to the floor rolling across the hardwood. 

The genie smiled, giving it an extra spin it rolled. It was just enough to send the ring bouncing down the single stair into the living room and a box full of odds and ends destined to be donated.

"Let's see, the next candidate is... Yeah, okay." They whispered, and flickered out.

 


End file.
